Aiming for the Skies Above
by Falneou17
Summary: Aoba Moca was never one to back down from a challenge, but she may have run into an obstacle that could prove difficult for her. In a new field with sky-high aims and a ton of risks, will Moca be able to reach the level that she needs to be at? Part of SRDC2019. FairyDark-centric birthday oneshot for Reiriniverse! Set after the NFO event


**This oneshot is part of the Saten Ruiko Day 2019 Countdown, which ended up being published at different times (and not as an actual consecutive countdown or anything). This is entry #1 featuring my 10th favorite fictional character as of November 2018: Aoba Moca from BanG Dream! Girls Band Party.**

**I'm pretty sure that most if not all of you would be surprised to see Aoba Moca on the #10 spot. For those of you who barely know me and have seen that I have written so many Moca-centric stories since 2017, you would have thought that she would be higher up (considering that a lot of people still erroneously believe that the Moca was my favorite Bandori girl for so long). For those of you who have heard me ramble and gush on and on and on about other characters, you might believe that Moca would not have made the cut at all. But here she is, making a solid spot on the #10 spot.**

**This oneshot will be significantly longer than the others in the spree in particular because it will serve a second purpose: it will be the birthday present for the amazing Reiriniverse over on Tumblr! Happy birthday, Rei! I hope you enjoy this! Everybody, please wish Rei a happy birthday, too!**

**The cover image has been made and provided by, funnily enough, the birthday girl herself: Reiriniverse**

**Disclaimer: I do not own BanG Dream! Girls Band Party, nor do I, in any way, shape or form, intend to pretend that I do.**

* * *

"Lisa-san! Please bring in two onigiris and four cans of juice as well!" Moca called out to her coworker who gave a barely audible affirmative noise in response.

The two girls were working their shift in the convenience store when a customer came up to them and requested several items. Seeing that the ones on display had been sold out already, Lisa had offered to get them from the back which left Moca alone behind the register to keep the customer company.

It was a nice day. The sun shone bright and it was warm enough for Moca to not wear thirty layers of clothes again. A part of her wanted to just drop her work outfit and enjoy the beautiful weather, but Moca knew better than to run. And the very reason for that was standing right in front of her right now.

"I'm sorry, Rinko-san," Moca said with an apologetic smile, clasping her hands together and tilting her head slightly in the process. Moca quickly returned back to the professional part-timer that she was, knowing that she shouldn't overdo it with the apologizing or cutesy act, "Please hold on a little bit, okay?"

Rinko, a girl one year Moca's senior and with flowing black hair that Moca could swear was shining on its own, nodded in understanding. Rinko was still wearing the uniform of Hanasakigawa High at this point and Moca marveled at how well the uniform fitted her senior.

More so than how she looked like or what she was wearing, Moca found how Rinko acted a lot more endearing. From the way that she would always avoid direct eye contact with her to how she never thought highly of herself, Moca would have lunged at her by now if Rinko had not been her senior. The fact that Rinko was now the student council president of her school only served to seemingly widen the gap between the two.

Unfortunately for the part-timer, Moca was not staring as subtly as she thought she was. It did not take long for Rinko to voice the thought that had been plaguing her mind for some time now, "I-Is there something wrong… Moca-chan?"

"Ah! Nothing! Nothing at all!" Moca blurted out before she could stop herself, slightly startling Rinko in the process. In a desperate effort to save face a little, Moca quickly tried to say the first excuse her brain could come up with, "Moca-chan hasn't been able to get a lot of sleep lately, so Moca-chan ends up daydreaming sometimes. Sorry about that, Rinko-san…"

"Please make sure to take good care of yourself, Moca-chan," Rinko said worriedly, but the somewhat stern undertone was still audible in her voice. Then, in a significantly mellower voice, she added, "Afterglow's lives would not be the same if Moca-chan were sick…"

Before Moca could properly respond to this other than fist pumping the moment Rinko looked away in embarrassment, Lisa had walked up to the two of them and motioned for them to follow her to the register. As Lisa was scanning the snacks and drinks that Rinko came here to buy, Moca carefully put everything in a paper bag. Without either Lisa or Rinko seeing it, Moca sneakily dropped a folded piece of paper in the bag alongside Rinko's purchases.

"All right, Rinko, that will be seven hundred and fifty yen," Lisa said after she scanned all of Rinko's items. After the two members of Roselia exchanged the money, Moca slid the paper bag over to Rinko who accepted it gratefully while Lisa finished by saying, "Thank you for shopping here, we hope to see you again."

Rinko nodded with a small smile and some words of gratitude. Holding the bag close to her like a long-lost heirloom, Roselia's prodigy keyboardist walked out of the store soon after. Moca and Lisa, who would both be stuck inside the store for at least another hour or two, looked outside where the weather was only becoming better as time went on. It was only after several minutes had passed since Rinko left the store that one of the two workers finally broke the silence.

"So… when are you telling her?" Lisa asked with a coy smile, eyeing the younger girl in the corner of her eye and watching how she flinched at the question. Trying her hardest to suppress the snicker that threatened to escape her lips, Lisa took a second to choose the right words before turning to fully look at Moca, "Rinko's not stupid, she'll find out eventually. Wouldn't you want to be the one to make the first move rather than wait for her to finally notice you?"

"I know, Lisa-san…" Moca whined and deflated, resting her head on the counter while hoping that Lisa would relent. Moca knew that this wouldn't happen, however, and had to think of a proper way to respond, "But wouldn't the older girl in this case be the one to make the first move? Moca-chan is the junior here!"

"You're not wrong, but it's not unheard of for the younger one to be the one to say it first," Lisa reasoned and Moca groaned softly, understanding who Lisa was talking about. Lisa did not push for it more so instead tried to lead the conversation in another direction, "What makes you so scared, Moca? I thought the Moca-chan I knew and respected did not know the meaning of the word 'fear'~?"

"Yeah, but Hii-chan borrowed me her dictionary a little while ago," Moca mumbled, feeling like she could swear that she was able to hear Afterglow's leader sneeze after Moca finished saying that. Shaking that feeling off and attributing it to her vivid imagination, Moca turned to look at Lisa, "Don't you have any tips for poor little Moca-chan, Lisa-neesan?"

"Not too many…" Lisa admitted, not being able to say that she had managed to gather the right amount of courage to do what Moca was preparing to do herself. In a desperate attempt to shift the focus away from herself, feeling like it was not her time in the spotlight just yet, Lisa asked, "Have you tried asking Himari or something already?"

"I asked everybody from Afterglow already…" Moca said, almost matter-of-factly as she slumped down a bit more. Expecting Lisa to find this response a suitable enough of a response, Moca was surprised to feel Lisa's stare drill into the back of her head. With a sigh, Moca looked up, "You want to know what they said, don't you?"

"That should have been obvious, shouldn't it?" Lisa laughed somewhat cheerfully, patting Moca on the back in the process. When Moca still didn't show like she would answer Lisa's question, Lisa pushed again, "So what did they all say?"

"Exactly like how you would expect them to respond to a question like that," Moca sighed again but at least had the decency to sit upright before elaborating, "Hii-chan and Tsugu were squealing before they went on a tangent on all the things I should get for her. Tomato-chin told me to be myself and Ran… well, Ran ran away like usual."

"I wonder why I was hoping for them to respond differently than that…" Lisa admitted with a slight chuckle, much to Moca's chagrin. Lisa looked like she wanted to say more but didn't have the chance to do so as the door to the store slid open and the next customer walked in.

The customer waved to Moca and Lisa and Lisa, seeing that Moca was in no condition to help the customer, decided to do so herself. Lisa quietly excused herself to Moca and went off to do her job, leaving Moca alone with her thoughts.

'What should I do…? Asking everyone didn't help, and Lisa-san is too focused on her own struggling love life to be able to help me with mine…' Moca thought to herself, biting her lower lip until the pain shook her back to her senses. Or was it the familiar smell that tickled her nostrils when Lisa came back with the customers to the register, 'That's it!'

Moca silently helped Lisa with the customer and handed the paper bag over with a small but distant smile. Moca did not waste any time after the customer left the store to tell Lisa what was on her mind, "Lisa-san, I have the request of a lifetime!"

Lisa blinked twice, processing what she had just heard from her friend and trying to convince herself that she had not mistaken Moca's words. It took her a couple of seconds to do so but the brunette finally gave a response to the desperate plea of the younger girl.

"This ought to be good," Lisa laughed when she heard Moca's choice of words. At the same time, however, Lisa could not say that she was not at least a little curious now, "Well, let's hear it! I cannot promise that I will be able to help you with it if it is something I cannot do."

* * *

"Moca-chan is home~!"

About an hour after she was let out of work, Moca opened the front door and subsequently closed it back behind her. Moca didn't understand why she called out that she was home knowing that neither of her parents wouldn't be that night. With this knowledge, Afterglow's guitarist did not even bother trying to find her parents; she went straight to her room upstairs to do the one thing that had been on her mind all day.

Moca crouched down to press the power button of the computer in her room, the machine whirring to life almost instantly after that. As the screen lit up in a bright flash of light, Moca decided that she could use a change of clothes after the long day and headed for her wardrobe.

A few minutes later, Moca walked back to the computer in a fresh outfit and a can of mocha coffee in hand. She sat down and turned to her computer, seeing that it was now ready to do what Moca needed it to do.

"Let's hope this works…" Moca muttered to herself, opening the site that Lisa had directed her to and started the download on the installer. Moca flinched visibly when she saw the size of the file that she was downloading but managed to stop herself from pressing the 'cancel download' button, "Do it for Rinko-san… do it for Rinko-san…"

Much faster than she thought it would last, the download had completed and Moca was brought up to the title screen. Any doubts that she may have had vanished faster than Ran ran when Tsugumi tried to change her personality and image to that of a biker with the mouth of a sailor not too long ago. The title screen of the game Moca had just started was already gorgeous, leaving Moca with high hopes as to the next phase of her plan.

"All right… what kind of avatar should I make for myself?" Moca thought to herself after she had registered an account and reached the character creation part of the game. Moca did not have to think about this for long as she got to work quickly on the creation of her in-game avatar.

After about half an hour since starting the creation process of her avatar, Moca could enjoy looking at the finished project: a tall girl with fair skin and long black hair down to her hips, Moca's avatar was wielding two short but powerful daggers, one in each of her hands. To try and stay true to the theme of the game, Moca had given her avatar a pair of dark-colored fairy wings. Others may think that this addition would look weird on her avatar, but Moca found that she liked the inclusion of it.

"All right, now to start to play and get to Rinko-san's level!" Moca cheered to herself and entered the game with her newly created avatar. Moca let out an audible gasp the very next second when she saw how amazing the game looked. Knowing that her computer was several versions out-of-date made Moca wonder just how pretty the game would be on a new device.

Feeling motivated to play this game knowing how good it looked, Moca found herself rushing to the nearest area with a sign of monster spawns in the hopes that she could start grinding up the levels. What Moca did not know, however, was that she had rushed into the wrong monster spawn zone; instead of fighting the level one monsters that she thought she would be fighting, she instead came face-to-face with a level fifty-seven monster.

It did not take long for Moca to realize that she was completely out of her league, but she did need several seconds to find out the cause of this. Moca, now terrified that she knew what was wrong, mashed all the buttons in front of her in the hopes that she could find a way out of this mess.

Moca's attacks of desperation proved near-useless, however, as the monstrous level gap between her and the monster made the attacks bounce off their targets as if they were nothing. In a final act of desperation, Moca tried to use one of the skills that she saw in the corner of her screen. She did not get to see what the name of that skill was or what it did; she didn't even get the chance to press the button.

The monster was preparing a skill of its own to throw at her, one that Moca knew would surely end her career in this game straight away. Moca was completely out of options so she did the first thing that came to mind: she cowered and braced for the attack, hoping that she would eventually respawn after her demise.

"Blind Curtain!"

The next thing that Moca saw was a bright flash of light that managed to blind her in front of the computer. As soon as she could see a little bit more, Moca saw that the monster she had come across was blinded as well and that there was another player in the area waving at her frantically. Moca did not need another hint as to what to do, making a beeline to the other player and reaching the safe zone not long after that.

"T-Thank you… I thought I was done for and then you saved me just in time," Moca panted, silently surprised how emotional that encounter was but understanding that she owed her savior a word of gratitude. Moca took this opportunity to properly look at the player who saved her and was glad that her hero could not see her do a double take in real life.

"It was the least that I could do, although you should be really careful around these parts. If you are just starting out then this area will be impossible for you to get through," the purple-clad mage explained, pointing at the area that Moca was just in before pointing in what was seemingly the opposite direction, "The area for beginner players is that way. The levels of the monsters there should be a lot more manageable for you and the quests that you can do will help give you the experience that you need to move up in the world."

"It is a lot of hard work but if you put in the time and effort I am sure that you will be able to level up quickly," the mage continued, seemingly unaware of the fact that the conversation, if it could even be called that, was very one-sided, "I mean, when I started playing this game with a friend of mine we only needed a week to get to the point where we could handle the monsters in this area."

"…ah! That sounded like bragging and showing off, didn't it? I am so sorry about that! I did not mean it like that; I meant that if someone like I could do it then you should be able to do it, too. Um um… what you could do is do all the beginner quests that you can still do. If you do them all you should be able to get to level seven, if not higher."

"What are the chances…?" Moca muttered to herself in real life as she stared at her savior's screen name in disbelief. She would recognize that name anywhere and this sudden twist left her silent to take in this new information. The realization that she had remained quiet in the game while her savior had continued to give her tips to improve herself shook Moca back to reality, and it was with this that she returned back to her keyboard, "Thank you very much, um… Rin…Rin?"

"Glad I could help. Would you like me to help escort you through the beginner levels and quests?" RinRin the mage offered Moca before quickly adding, "I promised to meet up with a friend of mine but I ended up logging in too quickly. I think I have an hour or so before she comes online so I can help you until then if you want me to help."

Moca, still baffled at how much and fast Rinko was typing, was tempted to turn down the offer. She did not want to risk Rinko's friend recognizing her should she see her, nor did Moca want to waste Rinko's precious time. But then Moca heard Lisa's voice in the back of her mind telling her that she should rethink her first decision.

"I would be honored," Moca finally said, trying to sound calm as she accepted Rinko's offer. Feeling like she should practice what she preached, Moca decided to be a bit more honest to both herself and Rinko, "I got this game at a friend's recommendation, but I just started and haven't had any time to play around with it. Could RinRin-san perhaps teach me a bit more about the game?"

"Of course, but please drop the '-san', it's embarrassing (*ﾉωﾉ)" Rinko said, and Moca could almost see the blush on her senior's face through the screen. After a few seconds had passed, precious seconds in which Rinko probably had to calm her nerves down, Rinko began typing again, "Let's start with the basics then, Black Snow Raker…"

* * *

Three weeks had passed since Moca had first started to play the online game _Neo Fantasy Online_, and she was finally starting to become more confident with her skills as an NFO player. She had already started to reach the same level range as Rinko and, more importantly to Moca, she could hold her own in battle even without Rinko's help. This, unfortunately, did come with its own sets of disadvantages for Afterglow's guitarist as well.

All the playing and grinding experience points to strengthen her in-game avatar up the ranks had resulted in Moca playing until deep into the night on more than one occasion. And this has started to show its effects already; gone was the clear skin that Moca could boast about. Gone were the high grades Moca could obtain with little to no effort. And gone was most of the time she usually spent with her childhood friends.

_"Is this really what you want to do, Moca?"_

_"Come on. If Moca has already decided, then all we can do is try and support her."_

_"But what if—"_

_"No use trying. Moca, don't be late for practice later and don't forget the worksheets Kurasaki-sensei gave us."_

The voices of her friends rang clearly in Moca's head, almost as if they were all right there with her. But Moca knew better, so she shook her head to try and focus what she was doing. She had not spent that much time or energy just to fail at the very end and she knew she could not afford to give in just yet. She'll just have to make up for the lost time with her childhood friends some other way in the future, but that was a worry that Moca would worry about another day.

"Here, you need to eat as well."

A familiar voice said right after a lunch box was unceremoniously dropped in Moca's lap. This caught Moca by surprise, even if she did her best not to show it. Moca logged out of the game before she turned to playfully glare at the girl who had sat down beside her.

"Ehh, Ra~n~… dropping food on Moca-chan isn't a very nice thing to do~…" Moca whined, trying to get to her best friend's soft side before remembering that this was Ran she was talking to. Chuckling sheepishly to herself, Moca added in a grateful voice, "But thank you for bringing this to Moca-chan. See~? Ran _does_ care about Moca-chan~!"

"W-What are you talking about?" Ran sputtered having been caught off guard a bit. Scrambling to regain her composure, Ran muttered to the wall opposite of her, "Of course I care, we're friends, aren't we? Afterglow would be in trouble if something were to happen to you. Besides, I am sure that Tomoe would kill me if she heard I did not take good care of you while Tomoe and the others are on that trip."

"As expected of Tomo-chin," Moca chuckled in between two mouthfuls of food. As she swallowed her food, Moca saw that Ran had started to boot up her own computer beside Moca's, "What are you doing, Ran?"

"What does it look like?" Ran replied without looking up from her computer screen, already having logged in and waiting for it to fully turn on now. Seeing as she had some time to waste anyway, she decided she could give a more proper answer and thus turned to look at Moca, "After you told us what you were planning, the rest of us thought it would be a good idea to help out."

"Awww, Ran~," Moca cooed, leaning more against her best friend as she did so and making sure to hold on to her shirt so she couldn't run away again. Ran, for her part, only stiffened up a bit when she felt the contact, but did not react in another way.

"Don't misunderstand, this is for Afterglow's sake as well," Ran tried to sputter, but found that her voice was falling on deaf ears. Accepting her fate with a sigh of resignation, the vocalist of Afterglow focused on logging in to her game account instead.

What Ran had said was not a lie; after Moca had confided in her plan of what she wanted to do, the remaining members of Afterglow all agreed to help her in whatever way possible. They even went so far as to create an account of their own just to speed up the process, even though they barely knew anything about the game.

Not too long after logging into the game, Ran's avatar materialized in the game. A character who towered above Moca's avatar should they be standing side-by-side, Ran's avatar was dressed in much the same attire as Moca's is but also sported a floral-theme on its dress.

Ran was about to head towards the nearest hunting grounds when she felt Moca poke her in the side. Slightly annoyed, Ran turned a sideward glance towards her so-called friend, "What?"

"What's that in your inventory?" Moca asked, pointing at the item in question curiously. Moca had expected her childhood friend to reluctantly show what the item was or even straight up ignore her altogether. What Moca had not expected was for Ran to break into a soft chuckle at her words, leaving the taller of the two confused.

"What's so funny, Ran?"

"You want to know what it is?" Ran asked Moca in a tone that Moca had not heard in a very long time. Ran knew that she did not need to tell Moca for the younger girl to understand but did so anyway, "Beat me and I will show you."

As Ran's vocal challenge reached Moca's ears, a window popped up on Moca's screen indicating the invitation to a one-on-one battle between the two girls. Moca grinned when her eyes landed on the screen and, never one to back down from a challenge, accepted it.

The moment that Moca had accepted Ran's challenge, the scenery around their characters changed almost instantly. The two of them now found themselves in a glass octagonal room in the pitch black void of space. Lighting was provided by a chandelier of purple-colored crystals hanging from the center of the room, basking the computer screen in an eerie purple hue. Moca, having adapted to the glare the fastest, saw the name of the area that they found themselves in, but could only read the letters 'Endym' before they disappeared.

Shaking the thought that the room seemed familiar out of her head, Moca moved her character so she was standing opposite Ran's. Both childhood friend's grinned as they got ready for the showdown that they both knew was only seconds away.

"Get ready to show Moca-chan what that item is, Ran, because you're going down~!"

"Let's see about that."

* * *

"Make good use of it," Ran said as she packed up her things and got ready to head out. Busy with managing to prop her laptop back in her bag, Ran muttered, "Wouldn't want to waste two hundred hours trying to get that for you again…"

"What was that, Ran?" Moca asked as she was marveling her prize that she won; Ran had not only allowed Moca to see what she had but ultimately gave it to Moca altogether. And, while Moca had offered to help her friend pack up, Ran turned down her offer in typical Ran-style.

"Nothing at all. We have practice next week, same place and time, don't forget," Ran said as she heaved one of the bag straps over her shoulder. Wincing slightly at the sudden weight, the heiress to the Mitake flower shop recollected herself quickly, "And Moca? Good luck."

Before Moca could say anything, Ran had already left the room and started to go home, leaving Moca alone once again. Moca did not have a lot of time to get used to the silence, however, as it was at that moment that another familiar figure had logged on and approached Moca's in-game character.

"I am sorry I am so late, a friend of my parents came over for dinner and I was expected to stay seated at the table until well after he left. I could only just now slip past my parents and log on," the mage said in apology as she approached Moca. Hearing that Moca bore no ill feelings for her, she added in a calmer tone, "You said that you had something you wanted to show me, Black Snow Raker? What is it what is it what is it? o(ᗒᗣᗕ)o"

"I do. Accept the please request trade," Moca typed her response so fast that she messed up her wordings completely. After taking a moment to calm herself and resend her message, with correct grammar this time, Moca opened the trade window, offered the item she had received minutes ago, and grinned, "So? What do you think?"

The item that Moca was offering turned out to be a longbow, with the bow itself being designed in a deep red metallic plating. Moca had read the description of the weapon itself before she received it from Ran and knew that the bow would be about as tall as she was should there be a real-life counterpart of it. The surprisingly anxious Moca did not need to wait very long to receive the response she knew she was about to receive.

"∑(O_O;) The Flame Caller!" Moca swore that she could hear her friend's surprised and gleeful squeal from her side of the computer. Knowing that she did not need to try and hide her own happiness allowed Moca to break out into an even wider grin whilst making a mental note to return the favor to Ran.

Moca was shaken back to reality when the familiar sound notifying her that a message had arrived resonated through the room.

"What do you want for it? I have a lot of cool things I can trade you for it if you are interested, let me see everything that I have first," the now-desperate mage had typed out her message before trailing off, likely to look through her inventory for trade power. Before she could offer something in return for the majestic bow, however, Moca had canceled the trade, much to the mage's disappointed surprise, "Why did you do that? Did you really just do that to show off in front of me? (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞That's not very nice, Black Snow."

"What? No, of course not!" Moca typed quickly, only now realizing how her actions could have been interpreted by the other player. Moca took a deep breath, hoping and praying that she could word her reasoning in such a way so as to not anger her friend, and moved her fingers across the keyboard once again, "You see, RinRin, you know how rare this item is. And we both know that nothing can really equal the Flame Caller's worth. At least not something that you would be willing to give up for it."

Moca saw how the mage had grown silent as she read Moca's words. Moca knew that the next words she would say would be all or nothing.

"Instead of that, RinRin, I will give you Flame Caller. On one condition."

* * *

It had been a week since Moca had met up and agreed on the condition for handing the Flame Caller over. She was standing out here in the nearby playground late at night on her own, fumbling around in anticipation. The sense of giddiness, however, started to dissipate when she was starting to second guess her intentions.

'No! Bad Moca-chan!' Moca thought to herself as she slapped both of her cheeks lightly. Allowing herself a few deep breaths to calm down, Moca looked around her to try and find the person she was waiting for; it did not take too long for her to find her target.

The other person slowly came into view, her long black hair flowing freely behind her as she looked around her. Her eyes were wide and she was fidgeting around a lot, a fact that Moca could not help but notice. Moca couldn't think about this too much, however, as it was at that moment that Rinko noticed her junior standing there.

"Moca…chan…? What are you doing… out here so late?" Rinko asked Moca when she was sure that Moca could hear her. Much to Rinko's surprise, Moca did not seem like she was surprised to see her. On the contrary, the guitarist seemed to have calmed down when she saw her senior approached her, baffling Rinko more than she let on.

'But why would Moca-chan be happy to see me? And why is she here when I agreed to meet Black Snow-san here?' Rinko thought to herself, keeping her distance from Moca as she raked her brain for answers. Rinko was starting to think of potential answers when her mind settled on one.

Rinko never received the opportunity to properly react to this realization.

"Fancy meeting you here, huh Rinko-san?" Moca asked all of a sudden, ignoring Rinko's earlier voiced question to ask a question of her own. Unable to stop herself from fidgeting about, Moca took a deep breath to try and calm herself before looking up again, "Thank you for coming here, RinRin."

"…D-Does that mean?" Rinko's voice was shaky and trembled with uncertainty, but deep down she already knew the answer before Moca nodded in confirmation. With her question answered, Rinko raised both her hands up, clasped them together and held them close against her before softly adding, "So… what do you want… for that item, Moca-chan?"

Moca seemed to contemplate Rinko's question silently, trying to find and name a suitable price for the legendary bow. But instead of having an answer ready, Moca had burst out laughing only a second after Rinko had asked her question, confusing the older girl.

"What—What is so funny, Moca-chan?" Rinko asked, growing slightly worried and scared at the sudden development in front of her. Thankfully for the keyboardist, she did not have too long to wait until Moca started to control herself and wipe the stray tears from the corner of her eyes.

"Ahh… Moca-chan is such an idiot… Moca-chan prepared this super long and emotional speech and now that she has the perfect opportunity to say it, Moca-chan cannot remember a single word from it," Moca said, her voice still laced with the remnants of her laughter. Properly loosened up and gotten rid of her hesitation, Moca looked her senior in the eyes with a new sense of conviction, "For the Flame Caller, Black Snow Raker… no… Aoba Moca-chan has just a single thing she wants in exchange."

Before Rinko could say or do anything in response to this, Moca had bowed deeply while shouting at the top of her lungs, "PLEASE BE MOCA-CHAN'S GIRLFRIEND!"

A prolonged period of silence followed after Moca's declaration where the only sound was the wind whistling by, gracing its hands across the girls' exposed skin where it could. This chill caused a shiver to run down Moca's spine and the young girl was acutely aware of the rustling of the overhead leaves.

And of the familiar sound that a body makes when it falls on the ground.

Upon hearing this sound reach her ears, Moca raised her head only for her eyes to confirm her fears: Rinko's prone and unconscious body was lying on the ground in front of her. Moca was kneeling down by her senior within a fraction of a second, checking on her breathing and heartbeat.

"At least you will be okay…" Moca muttered to herself as she pulled Rinko to her feet and guided her to a nearby bench. Having come prepared to wait for an extended period of time anyway, Moca took out a thick blanket and draped it around her love interest, making sure that the older girl was sufficiently tucked in. She had not prepared for the older girl to faint upon the declaration, however, and had left her smelling salts at home.

Smiling at her handiwork, Moca's features hardened significantly. Taking a deep breath, she turned around and addressed the people who were walking towards her. All four girls looked disheveled as if they had been in an uncomfortable position for an extended period of time, but all of them tried to remain optimistic as they neared Moca's position by the bench.

"How long have you guys been there?" Moca asked nobody in particular while taking in the appearance of her childhood friends; all of them were dressed for the weather and there were even mushy green spots on the clothes of Himari and Tsugumi that Moca was quick to recognize.

"Just enough to hear your confession and how it went," Ran answered for the rest of Afterglow with a nonchalant shrug as Tomoe tried to subtly kick Himari in the leg. Ran saw this development and tried to direct Moca's attention to her as Himari hid her phone, "What will you do now?"

"Until Rinko-san properly answers to what you said, one way or another, the two of you… aren't really anything, are you?" Tomoe added, eyeing the best friend of her little sister with a worried look. Then, in a more hesitant voice, the redhead turned to Moca, "Moca?"

Moca sighed deeply, running her hair through her fingers. Her friends were right and she knew that, but just knowing this did not make the decision much easier. Finally, and with a certain amount of resignation, Moca returned the look that Tomoe was giving her.

"You know where Rinko-san lives, right Tomo-chin?" Moca asked with pleading eyes. When Tomoe nodded, already having an idea where this was heading, Moca turned to her fully, "Please help Moca-chan bring Rinko-san home. Rinko-san will catch a cold if she stays out here and Moca-chan doesn't think it will be a good idea for her to stay out here in this weather. Don't get me started on what others might think of Moca-chan if they heard Moca-chan left an innocent girl alone at night like that."

"You do make a good point… Three cups and we'll call it done," Tomoe grinned and stretched her hand out. When she saw the look that she was getting from a certain bassist, Tomoe looked at her with confusion, "What? Moca owes us anyway, doesn't she?"

"You know as well as anyone that we cannot demand things like that at a time like this! How would you feel if you were in Moca's shoes and she did that to you?"

As Himari and Tomoe bickered it out like they usually did, Moca turned away and walked over to Rinko's side. She was pleasantly surprised when she felt the presence of two others near her, one on either side of her.

"I'm proud of you, Moca-chan!" Tsugumi said as she reached for and gently squeezed Moca's hand in reassurance and support. As soon as Moca looked at her, the brunette grinned and offered her a wink, "And remember: my father will release that limited drink over at our café tomorrow. If you want, you can always come by and I can try and convince Papa to give you an upgrade while we're at it. I'm sure he won't mind too much."

"Thanks, Tsugu," Moca returned the brunette's smile with one of her own before watching her friend hurry back to try and calm the friendly argument behind them. This left her alone with Ran, and the two of them stayed in silence for an extended period of time.

"You are going to wait, aren't you?"

Ran's voice sounded distant but Moca knew the hidden intent behind those words. Moca nodded and Ran couldn't help but let a smile grace her own lips, "Sheesh… that's just like you, Moca."

"Of course~," Moca grinned, falling back in her usual demeanor in front of her friend before adding, "Moca-chan will wait for however long it will take~. Hours? A day? A month? Years? Moca-chan will do it for who Moca-chan loves!"

Before Ran could say something in response, Moca did something that Ran had not been expecting: Moca had lunged herself at Ran and held her in a tight embrace while whispering soft words of gratitude.

As soon as it had started it also ended, and Moca let go to properly thank the remaining three girls. Ran stayed behind, not bothering to move after Moca to join her and instead turned her attention fully on Rinko.

"Moca may be blunt and rash and completely unpredictable, not to mention a big idiot at times," Ran said softly as she leaned forward and adjusted the blanket around Rinko's frame. With the ghosts of a smile gracing her features, Ran added, "But she is still our best friend, so please take care of her for us."

Ran then turned around at the mention of her name, and it was thanks to this that she missed the small smile that was now on Rinko's face.

* * *

**And that wraps up this oneshot! Gawd, adding kaomojis in the document was a pain and a half to get the one that both conveyed the right emotions and would be shown by the site… but all's well that ends well, so yay~**

**Thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoyed it, please go over to Reiriniverse's tumblr and wish her a happy birthday, and please tell me what you thought of this oneshot~. Until next time, take care!**


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